For 2 years now, the Global Studies Program at The New School for Public Engagement has coordinated the Coming Out in the Developing World (CODW) lecture and discussion series, which highlights the 'coming out' experience, particularly in the Global South. To date, topics have ranged from the role of porn in the formation of sexual identities in Eastern Europe to the negotiations of same-sex relationships in the Middle East as well as the impact of international organizations in combatting homophobia in North and East Africa. CODW has also examined policy areas including immigration, asylum, and the Defense of Marriage Act in the United States and its impact on binational couples.

100 to 200 word abstracts for papers, presentations, panels and poster sessions taking a critical or historical perspective on comics (juxtaposed images in sequence) are being accepted for a meeting of scholars and professionals at Comic-Con International, held in San Diego, CA from July 12-15. We seek proposals from a broad range of disciplinary and theoretical perspectives and welcome the participation of academic and independent scholars. We also encourage the involvement of professionals from all areas of the comics industry. The Conference is designed to bring together comics scholars, professionals, critics, and historians to engage in discussion of the comics medium in a forum that includes the public.

The Psychoanalysis Reading Group at Cornell University invites submissions for its upcoming conference:

Featuring Keynote Speaker:

Tim Dean, Professor of English and Comparative Literature, University at Buffalo (SUNY); author of Unlimited Intimacy: Reflections on the Subculture of Barebacking (2009), Beyond Sexuality (2000), and Gary Snyder and the American Unconscious: Inhabiting the Ground (1991); and co-editor of A Time for the Humanities: Futurity and the Limits of Autonomy (2008) and Homosexuality and Psychoanalysis (2001).

Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies Program at the University of Pennsylvania

(un)SAFE an interdisciplinary gender, sexuality, and women's studies graduate student conference at the University of Pennsylvania December 6th and 7th, 2012 with a keynote address by Lauren Berlant Experiences of the contemporary social world are often defined in terms of safety: a group of friends, a college choice or a sexual encounter could be "safe", where a classroom, a piece of equipment or a social space would be "unsafe". But the distinction between safety and unsafety is profoundly unstable, and articulates some of the most disturbing paradoxes of contemporary life. Safety can be banal, when a writer or athlete reaches only for goals within immediate reach, but it can also be utopian, in the scene of therapy, learning or rehearsal.

Nanotechnology has enormous potential to change society as it lead to new medical treatments and tools; more efficient energy production, storage and transmission; better access to clean water; more effective pollution reduction and prevention; and stronger, lighter materials.

The International Journal of Human Computer Interaction (IJHCI) publishes original research over the whole spectrum of work relevant to the theory and practice of innovative and interactive systems. The journal is inherently interdisciplinary, covering research in computing, artificial intelligence, psychology, linguistics, communication, design, engineering, and social organization, which is relevant to the design, analysis, evaluation and application of human computer interactive systems.